Selig wants WHO to own Cubs???????

[Fenway]

Chasing the Cubs (http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/25/magazines/fortune/cubs.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007062508)

A Chicago-based buyout artist may be Bud Selig's choice to become the Cubs' next owner for a record price. But can he break the curse? (http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/25/magazines/fortune/cubs.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007062508)


(Fortune Magazine) -- Back in 1981 the Tribune Co. bought the hapless Chicago Cubs for a bargain price of $21 million, prompting the Chicago Tribune's own sports columnist, Bob Verdi, to quip, "I don't know why we bought the Cubs. We already had a perfectly good company softball team."

Now, 26 years later, the team is still struggling on the field, naturally, but the Tribune Co., (http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=TRB&source=story_quote_link) (Charts (http://money.cnn.com/quote/chart/chart.html?symb=TRB&source=story_charts_link), Fortune 500 (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2007/snapshots/1453.html?source=story_f500_link)) in the wake of its $8.2 billion sale to Chicago real estate king Sam Zell, is poised to offload the lovable losers - for a price that could exceed $1 billion. And observers say that if Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has his way, John Canning Jr., CEO of Madison Dearborn Partners, will be the Cubs' next owner.

http://www.mdcp.com/images/principals_photos/canning_l.jpg John A. Canning, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer A.B., Denison University; J.D., Duke University. Prior to co-founding MDP, Mr. Canning spent 24 years with First Chicago Corporation, most recently as Executive Vice President of The First National Bank of Chicago and President of First Chicago Venture Capital. Mr. Canning has more than 25 years of experience in private equity investing and currently serves on the Boards of Directors of The Economic Club of Chicago, Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, TransUnion Corp., and Children’s Inner City Educational Fund; on the Boards of Trustees of the Big Shoulders Fund, The Chicago Community Trust, The Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, and Northwestern University. Mr. Canning is also a Commissioner of the Irish Pension Reserve Fund and a Director and Deputy Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

http://www.mdcp.com/principals.asp

[jackbrohamer]

Why is it surprising that Selig would want a very well-known (at least in the Chicago business community), successful person, whom Selig presumably knows personally through his connection with the Milwaukee Brewers, to own the Scrubs?

[Madvora]

I don't get it. Is the "WHO" because this is a bad choice for some reason or because you don't know who this guy is?

[Fenway]

I don't get it. Is the "WHO" because this is a bad choice for some reason or because you don't know who this guy is?

His name has been certainly off the radar concerning the sale.

[tebman]

His name has been certainly off the radar concerning the sale.
So were Reinsdorf and Einhorn in 1980. Who knows? Maybe this guy's investment group will realize they're buying a ball team and not a singles bar and run it like a ball team.

Or not. There's more money in singles bars.

[southside rocks]

So were Reinsdorf and Einhorn in 1980. Who knows? Maybe this guy's investment group will realize they're buying a ball team and not a singles bar and run it like a ball team.

Or not. There's more money in singles bars.

Apparently it's not the investment group, but Canning himself, that would buy the Cubs. From the linked article: "Any deal for the Cubbies, however, would be led by Canning personally, not Madison Dearborn."

This is interesting, and personally I think it would be better to have a Chicago baseball team owned by Canning or someone like him, than by Mark Cuban or someone like him. JMO.